conduire

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɔ̃.dɥiʁ/^[1]

Forms

conduire^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin condūcō (“to lead together, bring together”), formed from con- and dūcō (“to lead”); in popular Latin it took over the senses of the simple verb, “to draw, lead, guide”.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} In Old French it finally replaced “duire”, from “dūcō”.^[3][7] The Petit Robert connects “dūcō” and dux (“leader”) (whence duc) with a root “*deuk-” “to pull”, as in German ziehen and English team.^[5]

Cognate with Romanian conduce, Italian condurre, Occitan counduire, Catalan conduir, Spanish conducir and Portuguese conduzir.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion de Clermont (late 10th century) has the form conducent “they lead (someone) away to a place”.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) uses it for “to accompany” and for “to drive (someone) to an act”: Que nous seions conduit à mendier (“that we be reduced to begging”).^[2][7] Chrétien de Troyes (1172–1175) has it for escorting to safety.^[2] From the 14th century it meant to direct as head: in law (1372, conduire un procès, 1479), in administration (1474) and later in music (conduire un chœur, 1845).^[2][3] Béranger's conduire à l'église “to marry” (1829) matches Medieval Latin uxorem conducere (about 1194).^[2][3]

Furetière (1690) records conduire un attelage, and the absolute conduire “to drive” spread in the 19th century (Dumas, 1846), becoming very common with the motor car.^[2][3] Madame de Sévigné (1677) uses it for conducting a narrative, Nerval (1851) for conducting heat, and climbers for leading the rope (1913).^[2][8] The reflexive se conduire “to behave” goes back to the 13th century.^[2][3]

Timeline

• late 10th century – Conducent in the Passion de Clermont.^[2]
• c. 1100 – “To accompany”, in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• mid-13th century – Se conduire “to behave”.^[2]
• 1479 – Conduire un procès.^[2]
• 1690 – Conduire un attelage in Furetière.^[2]
• 1829 – Conduire à l'église “to marry”, in Béranger.^[2]
• 1846 – Conduire “to drive”, in Dumas.^[2]
• 1851 – “To conduct (heat)”, in Nerval.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take, lead (someone) somewhere: conduire un enfant à l'école, conduire quelqu'un chez le médecin.^[5][9]
2. To drive (a vehicle); to steer, guide (an animal): conduire une voiture, savoir conduire.^[9][1]
3. To lead, direct, manage: conduire une armée, une affaire, un procès.^[2][3]
4. (music) To conduct: conduire un orchestre.^[2][3]
5. To drive (someone) to: conduire au désespoir.^[2][3]
6. (physics) To conduct (heat, electricity).^[2]
7. Se conduire: to behave: se conduire mal.^[1][3]
8. (mountaineering) To lead (a rope of climbers).^[8]

Word family

• conducteur
• conduit
• conduite
• reconduire
• sauf-conduit
• inconduite

Related words

• duc
• Latin condūcō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 1023a
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)